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The day was sunny with only a light breeze blowing. Spring had roared in and painted the prairie in rainbows of color as flowers dotted the fields for as far as the eye could see. Some of those colorful flowers were tied with a silk ribbon and tucked into her basket. She’d blushed so hard when Aaron handed her that bouquet of wildflowers she was sure the folks in town had seen the sky light up red. He’d put Samuel’s traveling basket on the seat of the buckboard then grabbed her by the waist, leanedin and kissed her until her toes curled, then lifted her up and deposited her beside their son.
From the moment he climbed onto that seat with them, took hold of the reins and gave her a wink before heading out of their yard, butterflies had been fluttering in her stomach as if she was some lovesick schoolgirl.
A girl being courted by the boy she’d been secretly in love with since the moment she saw him.
A girl who’d been kissed by a man that had broken her heart in unimaginable ways.
A girl who, despite all the reasons she had to stay away from him, still wanted him.
“Don’t be surprised if when we get to the house you don’t see Samuel again until we leave.” He shot her a look, laughter dancing in his eyes. “I’m not sure who was more excited, my ma or Sophie Ann, when I told them at breakfast I was bringing you over.”
They rode in silence for a long while before he veered off the main road and headed out toward the Avery place. “I thought we were going to see your folks first.”
“We are. I wanted to show you something first.”
“Oh, all right.”
“It won’t take long.” He shifted in the seat. “When I left last year, I went home to Great Falls, to see what had become of our old place there. The house looked ready to fall down and the barn already had. I thought about fixing the place up but with no one there to call on for help, it would have taken me years to accomplish.”
The buckboard swayed on the rutted road and she checked to see if Samuel was still sleeping with all that bumping and jarring. Surprisingly, he was.
Aaron pulled off the main road down a tiny path that didn’t look as if anyone had used it in ages. Trees lined the trail and those spring flowers growing on the prairie splashed color hereas well. A clearing up ahead gave way to a clear view all the way to the mountains. The buckboard stopped and Betsey stared out over the horizon, turned her head left then right and stopped when she saw willow creek in the distance. Memories by the dozens came flooding back into her mind. “Why are we here?”
“I wanted to know what you thought of the place.”
She met his gaze, puzzled. “What do you mean?”
He nodded off into the distance, then looked around them. “Percy told me this stretch of land was for sale.”
Her heart thumped so hard it nearly took her breath.
“When I was in that old run down house in Great Falls, I kept trying to imagine what my life would be like living there and no matter how hard I tried, I knew I’d never be happy.” He looked over at her, met her gaze. “The important people in my life were here. I didn’t want to be there without those I care about.” Samuel squirmed in his basket and they both looked down at him. “I stopped off in town when I was leaving Great Falls. They have a land office there. Seems our property had been of interest to a few people over the years but no one knew how to get into contact with my ma about it so I told them where we were and to contact me if another buyer came along. One finally did. I got a telegraph this morning.” He looked out across the land again. “They’re going to set up an account for me at the bank in Missoula. As soon as the money gets transferred, I’m going to buy this place.” He met her gaze again. “I thought about putting the house over there.” He pointed off to her right. “That way, every morning when the sun rises over the mountains, it’ll shine through the windows like a personal wake up call.”
He got quiet and she looked over at him. He was staring at her. “What?”
He grinned. “What do you think?”
“About what?”
“All this.” He motioned to the wide open field of summer grasses and wildflowers.
She looked again, imagining a house and barn, vegetable gardens and kids playing in the yard. “I think it’s a beautiful spot for a home.”
“You like it, then?”
Something in his eyes said there was more to that question than him just wanting her opinion on the location and her foolish heart was suddenly racing. What was he really asking her? He grinned and took the reins again, turning the buckboard around and headed back to the main road. So many questions were running through her head, most of them more confusing than the one before it.
Was she reading more into him showing her that land than was there?He kissed you and said he wanted to make things right. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Did he plan on living out here alone or was all this some subtle way of him showing her plans he had for a future that included her and Samuel? Her stomach twisted, misery making it cramp painfully.
She watched the mountains in the distance as they pulled back onto the main road. She was so confused she wasn’t sure what to think anymore. It had been so much easier when she was mad at him. When him leaving her still stung and a small part of her hated him for it.
But now he was back and spending time with her and Samuel and giving her soft kisses with promises of more.
He was showing her land dotted with wildflowers and talking about houses and setting down roots.
He was talking about a future that, if she read the look in his eyes correctly, included her and Samuel. A future she’d always wanted with him—and she’d gone and done something rash and probably a whole lot stupid.
When Harrison McBride’s image filled her mind’s eye, she knew she’d made a big mistake.
